There are many good phonics programs out there, but these are additions I have used for the many kids I have taught to read. 1) For many double vowel sounds: ai like in rain ea like in bean oa like in boat etc I started reciting this before my kids knew what vowel pairs were! "When two vowels go a walking, the first one does the talking. The second one's sound asleep." (Second phrase is said in a whisper). And what does the first vowel say when he talks? He says his own name, of course!!! 2) Silent e The silent e affects the vowel two letters back. I emphasize this by drawing a curved arrow back from the e to the vowel affected. Now we just cross out the e and mark the vowel with a macron (flat line over it). This pairing could also be seen as coming under the "two vowels go a walking" rule in #1. 3) Bossy "r" ar like in car er like in butter ir like in shirt or like in fork ur like in purse In these combinations, r is bossy, and the vowel sound is changed because of being paired with the r. 4) Other "special sounds" must be learned on a case by case basis. Examples: ay oi wr ch

We are going through the states for Geography. Every 5th lesson, we don't do a state, but instead, dd6 gets credit for playing Geography games: Great States Junior, USA Card game, and a GeoPuzzle of North America. Of course, this is our second year on the curriculum, so we are just meandering through the states. I also have a Nook App that we do every time we do Geography that quizzes the states, flowers, and birds. ------------------------------------------- Sometimes we play a Dinosaur game as part of the Dinosaur curriculum. Maybe 1/week. ---------------------------------------------- Daily, I send dd6 to do 20 minutes of Xtra Math and then 20 minutes of Mavis Beacon Typing. Usually dd6 can do one or the other when I go nurse the toddler. If the toddler is still nursing after 20+ minutes (at waking from nap time), it is a good breaking point to get up and resume schoolwork.

We have had dd6 scheduled in regular after-school activities on almost a daily basis. Gymnastics, swimming, whatever. She's not necessarily with her preschool chums, but she has friends wherever she goes. As others have said, this is a season in your life. Two years from now, the baby's schedule will be different, and possibly not napping at all. Are there any special-but-more-complex pr ojects your dd could do right now as "me-time"? Learn to knit? Do a latch hook? Draw all of the animals in an Ed Emberley book? Time can be considered gained or lost, depending upon how one views it.

I'm an accidental author. I had an essay published in the school's Educational Forum my second year of college. I didn't even know they were publishing. It was an assignment to qualify as a Master Tutor in the college tutoring program. I had tutored for a year, and one of the requirements was to write about our experiences tutoring. Our adviser said it was, "The most true thing she had ever read about tutoring/class dynamics." I wrote about class indicators that instructors can use to know if their students are understanding the lesson or not. A part of what I wrote also talked about using different techniques to reach different students as a tutor. I was simply as honest as I could be.

Last year, I was Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy. Our family dressed as a theme WordGirl: dd6: WordGirl dd2: Captain Huggyface Dad: Dr. Two-Brains Mom: Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy. This year, I am thinking about going as the Handsome Panther. WordGirl fans will understand.

Here are software choices. It's not free; it's not a website; but it is an option. On the left side of the page, look at the little blue words for "Add Words" and "Games" to reference software that will do this for you.

:bigear: Decades ago, I had software for my computer for this. I gave it away when I sold my old computer, and sadly, I haven't been able to find anything since. I can't believe someone won't write software for a simple computer program for this.

Passionate moms can accomplish many things. Good beginner instrument choices: 1) Recorders are under $20 each for a good one. Aulos is a good brand name for a beginner recorder. You want a Soprano to begin. Stay away from the colored ones like this. They look pretty, but they don't play the pitches accurately. Warning: Recorders can reach a couple of octaves. If I remember correctly, I learned the first octave in Suzuki Book 1, and expanded to the second (higher) octave in Suzuki Book 2. To get the higher notes for Book 2, there is a trick one needs to learn with one of your thumbs to make a whistling sound with the recorder. It is a bit of a challenge to learn this, and it can be a barrier to moving on. I have at least one friend who discontinued Recorder lessons at this point because it was more of a challenge that what she wanted to work at. If you go this route, and if you get to this point, don't be discouraged. Learn to play ALL of the other notes in the song perfectly except the high one, and make a good attempt at that. It WILL come; it just takes practice. You would need 3 recorders instead of one. 2) Keyboard: We don't have room for a piano either. Our keyboard is a Casio basic model. We bought it on sale for $100-$120. It is in our kitchen. :laugh: It meets our needs for now. Warning: We just have a cheap keyboard. It doesn't even have loud and soft notes, which are a lot of what new/young students learn. Soooooo, intellectually, my dd6 can tell me all about piano, forte, mezzoforte, and fortissimo mean.....but she has no practice or habit of watching for these dynamic marks in the music and transferring them to her fingers. If I had to do it again, I would spend a little more money and get the next step up for a keyboard that had this sort of sensitivity. Unless one is musically talented on a genius level (and I have seen this on tv), I'm afraid lessons are the only doorway to this. That said, a little bit on lessons can go a long way. Some options: 1) Especially for the ages of children you have, I would take private piano lessons for yourself. Many piano teachers won't even take children until age 8. You can come home and teach your children what you learn. As an adult, you will absorb more knowledge, and move at a faster rate. You will be able to see the goal, and be motivated to practice daily in a way that a 5 and 7yo cannot. This is why I am teaching my dd6 piano myself. $20/lesson is a lot to spend on a 5yo for piano, especially if you don't have it. BTDT. Whoever your teacher is, let them know your goal. Never imply that they should give you free or reduced lessons; their time and their talents are worthy of pay. However, if they know your goal, they may be able to give you extra pointers and support for how to impart this knowledge to your kids. You would need to have duplicate books: child level and adult beginner level. You (as the adult) could use the child level, but most teachers prefer to put their adult students into adult beginner books. 2) For the ages of your children, whether they take lessons or you take lesson, you will probably need to sit with them for practice time daily. Are you ready to commit to this? (You don't need to answer here; just be aware of the parental commitment at this age). 3)Find a local high school student to teach you. You are a beginner (adult) student. You don't really need someone with a Master's in Musical Education to teach you how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. In our town, high schoolers who are starting their piano businesses charge $12/30 minutes compared to $20/30 minutes for college students majoring in Music. Look in the homeschooling community for a high schooler to teach you. She may even come to your home, allowing that you will not need to pack up the kids for lesson time. 4) Group lessons: Group or semi-private lessons for instruments are cheaper than private lessons. You may be able to find group piano lessons for little kids, or semi-private lessons for other instruments when your children are in Elementary. Warning: Our problem with group piano lessons was that dd4 was the only one progressing. She was the only one who practiced. So there was no one to do semi-private lessons with her for the following semester. Then we paid $20/half hour for lessons for a 5yo. Semi-private lessons through a school system can work well; as your child progresses, the teacher will assign a new partner that is on the same level as your child. 5) Depending upon how progressive a school system is, some schools offer free or reduced cost private music lessons at school. You could contact the music departments and see if this is possible. This may also open up the options of other lessons...but not until the kids are older. The public school I went to offered lessons in 3rd grade (band and orchestra instruments, for cost). My sister took group guitar lessons (for cost) in 5th grade after lunch with the music teacher once a week. We borrowed a guitar from my aunt. Some schools offer these lessons for free, but it is usually more progressive schools that offer this. As a homeschooler, your children should be able to participate in this in the same way as public school children participate. 6) Be unafraid to do a little research to answer questions and learn about musical subjects. Currently, I am trying to expose my dd6 to chords,scales, and keys. Google is my friend, and inter-library loan is my friend, too. Usborne has a book about musical theory; it's helpful, but not well organized. I'll bet if you posted musical questions here at the Hive, you could get some good answers, too. 7) PM me if you decide to go forward with this and decide on an instrument. For this age of child, you will want to play a lot of musical games. I have a list of music games for piano, but many can be adapted to any instrument. I'd be happy to send you my resources. 8) Would Grandma and Grandpa make a donation to the musical fund? Maybe as part of a Christmas gift to partially pay for a keyboard? Again, you don't need to answer here, but if you are determined to have this for your kids, you are unafraid to ask.

Ranger Rick The Cricket Magazine Group For age 6-9: Spider (stories and literature) Ask (how does the world work: scientists, inventors, artists). For age 9-14: Cricket (contemporary and historical fiction) Muse (ideas in science, history, the arts) Odyssey (latest science news for kids) Dig (archaeology) Cobblestone (American history) Calliope (World History) Faces (Cultures around the world) Kids Discover (Science/History) None of the above magazines has any advertising in it. ------------------------------------ Stay away from: Highlights for Kids: outdated. They haven't changed their format in decades. High 5 (for younger kids) is good though. No ads, Spanish vocabulary taught in each issue, and appropriate content. National Geographic Kids: Lots of advertising, and the kids I know couldn't tell the difference between advertising and articles. Lots of factoids, and an inability to pull it together into an article. National Geographic Little Kids (for age 3-6) is good because it has no ads, but does have appropriate content. Your public Library may have copies of these magazines that your child can skim through and pick her favorites.

Many good ideas here! Stick with nonfiction, or let her pick the book. Would it help to have her read it aloud to you? She may be so busy reading that she forgets to be worried. And you can discuss it as you go. --------------------------------------------------------------- Dd6 is not usually sensitive but once in awhile she gets scared half-way through the movie. We stop the movie, and I ask, "What do you THINK is going to happen?" (No animosity or snarkiness; just a gentle question). "What would you do if you were [character name]? Would you run and hide? Punch the monster in the nose? Throw magic acorns at it?" And we discuss it from there. Most main characters are okay at the end of the story, and your dd should be reminded of this and comforted by this.

I think there are many good Cursive books and curriculum out there. We are using a generic Cursive book. Other things to know: 1) We write the letter on the white board together. Then I have dd6 write a the letter 3-5 times independently on the whiteboard. 2) We go out of order. Some letters are just easier than others. I am unafraid to jump around. Start with i or t. 3) Develop a vocabulary for demonstrating the letters: s = Slanty line up to the dotted line, make a fat belly, and stick out your tongue (the connection to the next letter). t = Go up, backtrack down, end nicely (the curve to join to a next letter), write the crossbar. a = start at c-position, make a circle, backtrack down, end nicely. 4) After 26 pages of writing letters, our book has 26 pages of writing words that start with each letter. As dd6 learns each letter, I assign a PART of these pages if dd has learned all of the letters in a word. This allows review practice for letters she has learned in the past. Plus, I have no problems with jumping around. Example of our future word/letter plans: and, nap, pan, o do, g, dog, dad, t, rat, e, eat, near, pet, rear......

Soft Mozart -- it's a little pricey, but it is a suggestion. You lease the software, post your child's playing online, and the community will give recommendations for what to work on next. I'm not technically savvy, so filming and posting dd6 playing online was an added hurdle when we tried it. The other error I used was to try the vertical bars and notes, when dd6 was already reading music just fine. I should have just jumped to the higher levels of play. PM me if you have other questions. What do you want him to learn in this interim? I am not a musical genius, but I have been teaching dd6. Perhaps we can help you find a strategy for these few months. I am not a musical genius, but we have been learning about playing songs in different keys. Crazy enough, but I may just pull this off. We play many games.

Dune by Frank Herbert. (I'm showing how old I am, aren't I?) I liked Starship Troopers because of it's over-the-top campyness. I was disappointed by the book. I also liked Costner's The Postman, and was also disappointed by the book. The book seemed anti-climactic. You guys aren't going to let me pick the movie on movie night, are you? (I must have no taste in movies). :laugh:

I keep a list of far future opportunities in a Word file. Current activities I keep on a list written in my planner. I write them in the month of March (when we are thinking of summer activities). These were written down at the end of summer last year. I list things dd6 did last summer, so I remember to track them down this spring to sign up for summer. On my list for dd6: Tennis Nature Camp Engineering Camp Summer Library Program Girls' softball Gymnastics, gymnastics camp Swim Lessons (Passed Swim 3) For dd2: Tumblebugs Wild Tots

This is timely for us and some of the things we are learning this year! Thanks for posting!!!

Sorry for the interruption. 3) Battle of the Books is a reading competition in which children read books and answer questions in a quiz-bowl type of event. Disclaimer: I have never been to a Battle of the Books event, but I have friends who have children that have participated. To find a Battle of the Books event, check the BOTB website, or do a google search for "Battle of the Books [city state]." Whether your child participates in a BOTB event or not, the lists are reflective of what her peers are reading to be challenged. If your child participates, note that most events are team events, and no child read all items on the list. They work as a team to cover all of the material. Sample questions allegedly used at BOTB. ---------------------------------------------- Other things to know: ***NOW is the age to start your child on the habit of making literary notes of her school reading assignments. I posted on this a week or so ago here, entry # 19. Please please please go and read this entry on how and why to make notes on literature for this age.***

What a well-read child your daughter is!!!! Check your library for these ideas: 1) It is time for your daughter to meet Mr. Shakespeare. 1a) Usborne has several Shakespeare books: Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare For 8 years and up. Stories from Shakespeare Talk to your Usborne Representative to see how/if this differs from the one above. Rated for age 12 and up World of Shakespeare For background. This also teaches that if one understands the biography of the author, the book will have added depth, and the reader will have greater understanding -- an important lesson for high school and college Lit papers! The best part is that many Usborne books are Internet-Linked. This means that you go to the "quicklinks website," and you have instant enrichment by using internet resources. 1b) In Cartoon format: Bravo, William Shakespeare 1c) There are other version of condensed Shakespeare tales for children (I can't find my copy this morning). Others in the hive can help you. 2) When I was in 5th grade (1980-1981), our teacher Rosie Ryan taught us with Newberry Award Winners rather than with a textbook of literary selections. I don't know if this was a hippie/new agey thing, but we got a great education from a tremendous teacher! Books we read that year: Island of the Blue Dolphins Amos Fortune, Free Man To Be A Slave Old Yeller My Side of the Mountain Tuck Everlasting Sounder and more!!!! Read alouds that year: The Great Gilly Hopkins Superfudge Bridge to Terabithia Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM Summer of the Swans (or may have been 6th grade) The Westing Game Imagine my pride when I came across the Newbery poster as an adult, and I recognized several of these awesome books! Thank you Rosie Ryan, wherever you are!!! She introduced us to "great, young adult lit" (and the ideas that went with it), and she made us "well read." You don't need to read the specific books I listed, but here is the Newbery Website. Send your daughter there. OR March your daughter down to the library and have her look at the Newbery Poster on the wall. Pick one. Any one. You may also tell your librarian what you are looking for, and see which one is his/her favorite recommendation. Disclaimer: Newbery Award is given to literature for children UP TO AGES 14. Not all books may be appropriate for your 5th grader. I can't think of many that I wouldn't recommend, but I haven't read many of the recent ones. If your child is sensitive to violence, Where the Red Fern Grows has a gruesome scene in which a kid falls on an ax. Contact your librarian for info on specific books, or choose a skeleton list and post it here at the hive for feedback. ------------------------------------------------------- I'll post more later!

Superfudge Hank the Cowdog Poetry by Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky. Poetry is good for if there is less than 5 minutes to read, and you don't want to start a new chapter. You could finish a chapter or page, and read 1 or 2 or 3 poems according to how much time you have left.

You can get rid of the image of Mr. C. Look at the FAQ. Dd6 barely notices whether it is a regular drill or a test or a race. We set a timer, and dd6 works for 20 minutes. If she is told to log out, she knows she is to log right back in and continue until the timer goes off.

We do xtra math for 20 minutes each day. It's not exciting, but it gets the job done. I monitor dd's progress, and although she is not always "excited" to run to the computer to complete this task, she is proud of how well she is doing. She moans and makes faces, but then I have to tease her, "Hey! You scored a 91! You're in the 90s! That's 9 points from 100!" (100 is the top score to earn). "And you didn't want to do xtra math today...." She started at 44, and yesterday she scored a 95. When she gets to 100, we're going for ice cream. Other things to know: Your child's score will go down before it goes up as tougher problems are introduced. 7+ 8 is harder than 2 + 2.

We like FG and are independent (not a troop).

Loverboy's (USDA) lab is furloughed. Two exceptions: 1) There will be some work in the next several work to complete samples that are "in transit." For example, cultures that are set to be read at 7,14, and 21 days will need to be read once a week. This will provide a few hours for the processors. All new sample will be received and frozen until after the furlough. 2) All for-fee services. For example: Loverboy licenses private labs to test for some animal illnesses. If you have farm animals that need to be tested for disease X, you go to the USDA website to find a licensed lab near you. Loverboy runs the licensing for these labs for disease X. Because the labs pay to be licensed, this is "for fee." October 1st was when the evaluation period (testing) for the labs ended. Loverboy has about seven work days of numbers to crunch and reports to write/distribute. His pay will be held until the end of the furlough. ---------------------------------------------------------- I know someone posted that there is alleged potential for backpay, like in the 1990s. I hope this is so. Everything I have read is that "this is a different Congress, so don't plan on backpay." We're not even sure whether Loverboy will be reimbursed for his hours. We just don't. They are not making any promises at work; the powers that be just tell him to keep track of his hours. The only good thing about this is that we don't have a house. As much as we would like a house, it would be tight to own one. We have savings, but we worry about those in this situation that don't.

Loverboy got a rock tumbler last year for the girls...and for him. --We run it in the garage. --We have the understanding that each step takes at least a week. --We only run it in the spring/summer/autumn. (Water is a component, and we are not sure if it would freeze in the garage.) The girls love it, and just yesterday, they were picking out polished rocks to give to their friends. Loverboy even bought a second tumbler, and a vibrator (for the last 3 steps), too. The vibrator is mounted to a cinder block as recommended. If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to PM me, and I'll ask Loverboy.

Write it on the whiteboard. "Come," said the Wind to the Leaves one day. "Come over the meadow and we will play. Put on your dresses of red and gold. For summer is gone and the days grow cold." 1) Read with your children. 2) Erase one or two words. Possibly the last word in the line. "Come," said the Wind to the Leaves one day. "Come over the meadow and we will play. Put on your of red and gold. For summer is gone and the days grow ." 3) Repeat the poem. If you tap the board at each word, it is easier for child to remember that word. 4) Erase one or two words each round, children reading in between. Let the kids take a turn erasing the words they think they know. 5) Don't be afraid to take 2-3 days to memorize. That would be better for long-term memory anyway. I like the idea of setting a 10 minute timer, and being done for the day when it rings.

Write it on the whiteboard. "Come," said the Wind to the Leaves one day. "Come over the meadow and we will play. Put on your dresses of red and gold. For summer is gone and the days grow cold." 1) Read with your children. 2) Erase one or two words. Possibly the last word in the line. "Come," said the Wind to the Leaves one day. "Come over the meadow and we will play. Put on your of red and gold. For summer is gone and the days grow ." 3) Repeat the poem. If you tap the board at each word, it is easier for child to remember that word. 4) Erase one or two words each round, children reading in between. Let the kids take a turn erasing the words they think they know. 5) Don't be afraid to take 2-3 days to memorize. That would be better for long-term memory anyway. I like the idea of setting a 10 minute timer, and being done for the day when it rings.